Having breastfed my eldest for two years, I was also determined to breastfeed Mira for as long as I can. Of course, since we now reside in Saudi, the expectations are quite different. For one, I'm not aware if Saudi has laws similar to the Philippines' Milk Code and various DOH regulations, which provide for the essentials in newborn care, two of which are skin-to-skin contact and non-separation of mother and baby to initiate breastfeeding. The Milk Code also prohibits the introduction of formula to newborns while still inside the hospital. Thus, mothers are forced if not encouraged to breastfeed their newborns. In the Philippines, the "Unang Yakap" protocol is observed to allow the baby to latch to the mother as soon as the baby is born, as what happened when I gave birth to Elise (although she didn't learn to latch right away). Here, the minute I gave birth to Mira, I told the nurse I would like to breastfeed her, but she told me, "No", followed by some explanation which I didn't quite get. I didn't want to argue anymore due to the language barrier and I was also exhausted. After a minute or so, they gave me Mira already cleaned and swaddled in a blanket so we didn't get to experience that first skin-to-skin contact, which saddened me a bit. After that, she was whisked away to the nursery, and I never got to see her again until 12 hours later. Which led me to believe she was given formula while she was at the nursery. Four years ago, I might have stressed to the max over this thought, but this time, I just let it go. While I believe in the benefits of breastfeeding and still plan to breastfeed her exclusively for the first 6 months, I've also opened up to the "Fed is Best" advocacy. Honestly, I also had no strength left to question the hospital policies of a different country. I just waited for the pedia nurse to bring Mira to the room and began breastfeeding her until we left the hospital. We've been exclusively breastfeeding since. At the hospital, I also got a lot of promotional freebies and goodies from different companies including a newborn kit from the hospital, which includes tadaan... two bottles of pre-mixed Similac formula. This is a big no-no in the Philippines. Another challenge for us is that we haven't found a Filipino pedia here yet who is also a breastfeeding advocate. I got amazing support from Elise's pedia in Capitol Med, Dra. Pia Mendiola, who taught me patiently how to properly make Elise latch and encouraged me all throughout my breastfeeding journey. Ah, now comes the fun part, breastfeeding in public... in the Middle East! I guess it's safe to say that breastfeeding in public here does not exist. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)
I'm also not aware whether there are dedicated breastfeeding stations here in malls and establishments. To be fair to the big malls in Pinas like SM and Ayala malls, they have nice, clean breastfeeding stations. Here, I guess I can breastfeed inside toilets, which I don't really wanna do. I guess I can also breastfeed inside the enclosed family booths inside restaurants, one of the perks of segregation.
The solution: take chilled pumped milk with me wherever I go and warm them when necessary. You gotta do what you gotta do. Despite the challenges, the upside of it all is that breastfeeding the second time around has been so much more pleasant! With Elise, I cried almost everyday due to cracked and bleeding nipples, plugged ducts, that feeling as if my breasts were on fire, etc. I endured that for almost 8 weeks! This time around, I got to enjoy breastfeeding Mira. There's still the occasional plugged ducts, and my nipples still cracked during the first two weeks, but thankfully, I learned how to better handle the pain. Maybe I have also matured for the last four years and have accepted that all this inconvenience is temporary but the benefits will last her a lifetime. * * * Read: My other articles about mommyhood and our diplomatic life here in Riyadh: My Birthing Story Ala-Fear Factor What to Expect When Expecting in Saudi House-Hunting in Riyadh: Fantasies and Realities The Start of our Diplomatic Journey
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Someone had mentioned to me before that for every subsequent pregnancy, expect the hours of labor to be reduced by half. No kidding! It took me six hours to give birth to our eldest Elise, and so it was no surprise to me when at 38 weeks, I gave birth to our secondborn Elmira in only three hours. The hubby and I had planned to watch back-to-back episodes of Suits that Saturday night and we had barely gotten started when I felt as if the baby literally kicked my V from the inside. Before I could make a comment about it, I felt a gush of water and knew it had broken. The good thing about Riyadh is the lack of Manila-like traffic. We were in Sanad Hospital in just around 30 minutes even though the hospital is located about 15 kilometers away from our house. Even though I have done this before, I feel like nothing could really prepare me for the curveballs thrown at me during delivery. First, I expected that my regular OB, a Filipina, would be the one to deliver our baby. As it turns out, things work differently around here. You don't text your regular OB and tell her you're on your way to the hospital where you two would simply meet. In our case, we went straight to the hospital ER where I was prepped for delivery and when it was time, the on-call OB delivered the baby. I learned later on that you can make a private arrangement with your regular OB, but it required shelling out an additional SAR2,000 (Around PHP20K+++)---which we found too steep. It can be a bit disconcerting to have an OB whom you've never met before and have no rapport with deliver your baby. During my first pregnancy, we consulted with many OB's until we found someone we really liked. But what's one got to do but to make it work? My OB was Syrian, looked a bit young, and likable enough although she gave me tough love. When I wasn't pushing right, she taunted me that she would just send me home since "I didn't want to give birth to the baby". I knew she was just encouraging me to push better, but I wanted to tell her, "Hey! Cant' you see I'm in pain here???". Thankfully, the patient records of Sanad are centralized so that gave me some bit of comfort, that my Syrian OB can just pull up my records and check my consultation history, lab results, etc., to get acquainted with my case should there be any complications. I was also thrown off by the fact that although there are plenty of FIlipina nurses in Sanad, the main nurses who assisted me were not kababayans. Although they were friendly, I had some difficulty in both conveying my messages and understanding their instructions because of their foreign accents. It was also kind of awkward to relay my pains in English, like: "Please help me!" "I can't do it anymore!" "Ouch! It's so painful!" I felt so conyo, hahaha! The biggest curveball and definitely not part of my birth plan was giving birth without any medication - as in I gave birth naturally! Given my generally positive experience when I gave birth to Elise, I was set on also asking for epidural this time around. I know some women choose to forego the epidural for an organic labor experience, but I already knew my intolerance to pain and know myself well enough to ask for an epidural. Just an hour after admission, my OB told me my dilation had already progressed from 5 to 8cm very quickly that she could no longer administer epidural. When she told me I have to give birth naturally, I felt like I was a contestant in Fear Factor. I started to panic and told my OB, "NO! NO! I CAN'T DO IT!!!". To which my OB replied, "Yes, yes, you have to!". I felt so defeated, but at the same time, I felt so grown up, too, like I was confronted with fear, and I have no choice but to take it head-on. (I realize that for someone in labor, I was doing a lot of overthinking, haha.) In between the most painful contractions, I thought about all the movies I've seen where the pregnant women deliver their babies in the most unusual places like the car, or even in their house, and wonder how they can do it without the benefit of epidural or anesthesia to help ease the pain. Well, I was about to find out! To cut the long story short, I gave birth to our secondborn, in exactly three hours, without the assistance of medication, and without my husband by my side who was not allowed inside. I know it might not sound like a big deal to some, but I consider this experience a kind of a personal achievement. Read: My other articles about mommyhood and our diplomatic life here in Riyadh: What to Expect When Expecting in Saudi House-Hunting in Riyadh: Fantasies and Realities The Start of our Diplomatic Journey |